Portal:Water/Fracking Front Groups

Here are some of the industry front groups and trade groups advocating for methane gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale region:


 * Energy in Depth (EID) is a pro oil-and-gas drilling industry front group formed by the American Petroleum Institute, the Petroleum Association of America and dozens of additional industry organizations for the purpose of denouncing legislation proposed by Colorado U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette to regulate underground hydrofracking fluids. Energy in Depth denounced DeGette's proposed fracking legislation as an “unnecessary financial burden on a single small-business industry, American oil and natural gas producers.” In June, 2009, Energy in Depth started a multimillion dollar lobbying and public relations campaign aimed at derailing public health legislation that would require the disclosure of the chemicals used in fracking fluids. In addition to a website, EID's campaign includes a Twitter feed, a Facebook group, a YouTube channel and an aggressive advertising campaign. Shortly before the documentary Gasland first aired on HBO, the organization issued a "Gasland Debunked" article to discredit the film and its director, which does not address many of the facts:  http://www.energyindepth.org/2010/06/debunking-gasland/. An inquiry into who was handling the public relations for Energy in Depth is detailed here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kevin-grandia/who-are-the-spindoctors-b_b_621190.html?ref=twitter.  Fox, along with numerous scientists and academics, penned a 40-page document titled "Affirming Gasland" in response to "Debunking Gasland," shooting down the Energy in Depth report in its entirety, It can be seen here: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.damascuscitizens.org%2FAffirming-GASLAND.pdf&h=daa4du0q7YKD4cd7GoBRDDoELGQ. After Josh Fox's film was nominated for the Academy Award, Energy in Depth went on the attack again, writing a press release titled, “This nomination is fitting, as the Oscars are aimed at praising pure entertainment.” The Guardian debunked the propaganda here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/feb/21/oscar-buzz-gasland-engery-lobby.


 * Joint Landowners of New York (JLNY): Although not yet confirmed, it appears as if JLNY is another industry front group because it is so overwhelmingly supportive of industry drilling into the Marcellus Shale.  JLNY describes itself as "a 501c 6 a non-for-profit corporation."  It says it "represent[s] 17 counties and 37+ coalitions. Estimated numbers of households are currently over 20,000, representing approximately 70,000 people and over 800,000 acres throughout New York's Southern Tier." JLNY may be an astroturf group made up of a small number of duped supporters, but funded primarily by industry, like FreedomWorks. Astroturfing refers to small grassroots-based citizen groups or coalitions that are primarily conceived, created and/or funded by corporations, industry trade associations, political interests or public relations firms.  Like EID, JNLY has its own "Debunking Gasland page, which seems to confuse myths and truths, but consistent with industry propaganda, which can be seen here: http://www.jlcny.org/site/index.php/news/latest-news-articles/192-debunking-gasland-the-movie.


 * Marcellus Shale Coalition is the well-funded industry group that is working to oppose efforts to regulate methane drilling and blocking efforts to protect drinking water.


 * Marcellus Shale Committee is an earlier industry trade group that appears to be largely superseded by the Marcellus Shale Coalition.


 * CNGNow, also known as Clean Natural Gas Now, is a front group for Chesapeake Energy. One can quickly figure this out by seeing how the two entities interact over Twitter, as nearly every tweet that Chesapeake Energy publishes, so too does CNG Now.


 * CNGVehicles, also known as Clean Natural Gas Vehicles, is an industry-funded lobbying organization. CMD reporter Steve Horn revealed that they were instrumental in writing the NAT GAS Act that was unveiled by the US Congress in April 2011: http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/04/10546/fracking-insiders-score-big-new-gas-bill-americans-not-told-true-costs-massive-dr.


 * Haynesville the Movie is very likely an industry-funded documentary that first premiered on CNBC in Nov. 2010. The CNBC promotional website for the movie contains a testimonial for methane gas exploration by T. Boone Pickens, as well as external links to pro-industry groups, such as "Go Haynesville Shale." CMD intends to nail down whether or not this documentary is indeed a promotional front for the methane gas industry in the near-future.